In a valiant attempt to clean the streets of societies, criminals are put away in rehabilitation institutions called prisons. It was a belief that they would learn their mistakes, repent and rejoin societies as better people. On the contrary, what happened was the cultivation of an environment leading to the evolution of prison subculture. In a constant power struggle amongst nations, politicians and people within society, many fail to perceive or notice a battle of another sort. That is the battle of those trying to survive in an environment predominant with racism, hate, violence and gangs. Prison subculture evolved, when doing time wasn't just about doing your time but became an intricate experience of politics, power, domination and overall supremacy. They formed a definite opposition against mainstream culture as its members felt that they have been ostracized and segregated as misfits. As criminals, they have nothing to lose and everything to go against. Prisoners follow the inmate code' where meanings were mainly circulated throughout the prison through pledges of allegiance, tattoos, racial identities and physical strength over others. This communication was vital as it identified the member with a specific group and provided protection for him. Semiotic analysis and performance theories on this subculture further reveals the structure and how the norms are very similar to mainstream culture, only that it's at the other end of the spectrum. There is however a debate on whether the subculture was bred within the walls of the prison or brought into the prison from the mainstream cultures itself.

Background

Ancient civilizations bore evidence of prison structures, which consisted of a vast network of dungeons under the city's main sewer. These subterranean cells held political dissidents and criminals for short periods of time in cramped, miserable conditions. However it was not until the 15th century that long-term confinement became a form of criminal punishment. Almost every nation in the world today punishes its criminals by locking them up within the prison walls, the maximum period being up to a life sentence. Ruling government bodies took upon themselves to construct and operate these prisons. Nevertheless in some countries including the United States, private corporations are given contracts to build and run prisons for the government. The ideology behind imprisonment was the protection of the society, prevention of crime, retribution (revenge) against criminals and the rehabilitation of inmates. It is also a system where the wrong doers are punished and given a chance to repent inside the prison to reintegrate into the community following their sentences. Prison life was expected to cause the inmates to regret their criminal acts, and that when most prisoners are released they will be deterred from committing future crimes. The maximum punishment of incarceration of criminals also aimed to deter other individuals from following criminal behaviour for fear of that punishment. However the truth was that the social structure of prisons and prison practices actually impeded any form of rehabilitation and reintegration.

LiteratureThe prison became a learning institution for various types of criminals. The inmates acquired attitudes and knowledge from other inmates that improved their criminal skills and the desire to engage in a similar criminal behaviour upon release. American sociologist Erving Goffman has described U.S. prisons as "total institutions- that is, self-contained, self-sufficient social systems that are unique and distinct." Isolated within a total institution, inmates are cut off from the rights and responsibilities of society. This lack of connection with societal norms can prevent successful reintegration into society when inmates are released. This stand-alone environment developed its own code rules apart from the institutional rules that inmates had to abide. Thus,...

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...Danya E. Gregory
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...THESIS ABSTRACT 1. Title: FINANCING OF JAILS AND THE IMPACT OF SIZE ON THE EQUALIZATION OF SERVICES TO INMATES Total Number of Pages: Total Number of Pages: 2. 3. 4. 191 135
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...﻿The beginnings of subculture theory involved various theorists associated with what became known as the Chicago School. Subcultural theory emerged from the work of the Chicago School on gangs and developed through the symbolic interactionism school into a set of theories arguing that certain groups or subcultures in society have values and attitudes that are conducive to crime and violence. The work associated with Birmingham University’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was most responsible for the association of subculture with groupings based around spectacular styles (teds, mods, punks, skins, motorbike boys and so on).
Subculture theory: Chicago School of Sociology
The beginnings of subcultural theory involved various theorists associated with what became known as the Chicago School. Though the emphasis of the theorists varies, the school is most famous for a conception of subcultures as deviant groups, whose emergence had to do with ‘the interaction of people’s perceptions of themselves with others’ view of them’ . This is, perhaps, best summarized in Albert Cohen’s theoretical introduction to a study of ‘Delinquent Boys’ (1955). For Cohen, subcultures consisted of individuals collectively resolving societal status problems by developing new values which rendered status-worthy the characteristics they shared.
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Keywords Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS); Counterculture; Ethnic Groups; Neotribe; Postmodernism; Post-Subcultures; Psytrance; SubcultureSubcultures
Overview
Defining Subculture
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...educations in prison reduces the recidivism rate. Gordon and Weldon studied the inmates who were participating in the educational programs at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia and claimed that inmates who participated in the educational programs were less likely to recidivate once released back into the population as compared to inmates who did not participate in these programs (Gordon & Weldon, 2003). This study provides valuable information as to the effectiveness of educational programs in prison and how they affect prisoner's lives once they are out of prison. I believe that this study is very important because we can then gauge the effectiveness, if any, that these prison education programs have and better judge whether they are useful to have in the prison system. The argument that prisoners who participate in educational programs are less likely to recidivate is a sound argument for the reason that these educational programs teach them basic skills to help them adapt to life and find employment once they are released.
Gordon and Weldon's study shows how prisoners who have completed the General Education Development (GED) program have a significantly lower rate of recidivism. The goal of these educational programs are to achieve six goals: "to provide inmates with basic academic and vocational skills, to provide...

...﻿
Jail’s and Prison’s Response
Tracey B. Freeman
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February 1, 2015
Jeffery Beasley
Jail’s and Prison’s Response
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...﻿Memo
Date: March 27, 2013
To: Federal Bureau of Prisons
From: Karrington C Norris
Subject: Overcrowding of Juvenile Correctional Facilities
Introduction
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Identifying the Problem
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...punishment for the commission of illegal offenses. Juveniles and adults alike are subject to incarceration. Incarceration is the detention of a person in a jail or prison.
The federal, state, and local governments have facilities to confine people. Individuals awaiting trial, being held pending citations for non-custodial offenses, and those convicted of misdemeanors (crimes which carry a sentence of less than one year), are generally held in jails. These less serious offenses may receive a short term sentence to be served in a local jail or to alternative forms of sanctions, such as community corrections (halfway house or house arrest).
There are other facilities for housing offenders. Facilities for holding convicted felons (offenders who commit crimes where the sentence is more than one year) are known as prisons. Prisons operate at different levels of security, ranging from minimum-security prisons (mainly house non-violent offenders) - to Supermax facilities (that house the more dangerous criminals).
The motives for incarceration has received much debate as to its effectiveness and fairness. This can be because the police can arrest and temporarily incarcerate a person charged with a minor offense that is punishable by a fine and no incarceration. The procedures leading to incarceration in jail, prison, or community sanctions may vary.
History
According to Peter Spierenburg, a Dutch...